1. Field of the Invention
The invention has as an object thereof to develop an arrangement for the emptying and cleaning, and when required, for the disinfecting of hygienic vessels which are employed in the health care or nursing sector, without contamination of the external portions of the arrangement.
This task is of particular significance in the field of hygiene and for the protection against infections encountered in a hospital.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
From the disclosure of Swiss Patent 602 202 there has become known an arrangement for the rinsing and disinfecting of bedpans, which describes a stand with a rinsing chamber which is connected at the bottom thereof with a discharge and at its upper end possesses an opening which is closable through the intermediary of a horizontally displaceable cover. An annular channel with a discharge gap is provided in a rinsing chamber. A number of spray nozzles are arranged distributed below the annular channel. The annular channel and the spray nozzles are connected with the cold water and hot water pressure line. The interior space of the rinsing chamber is connected with an arrangement for steam condensation, which is located externally of the chamber. The receptacle which is to be cleaned must be introduced by a nurse or health care aide into the rinsing chamber. Thereafter, this person actuates a switch which initiates the programmed control for the activation of the working cycle.
This known arrangement is subject to various disadvantages. When a bedpan containing excrement is to be cleaned, then the nurse must initially tilt the bedpan by hand and empty the bedpan into the rinsing chamber. Thereby, it is almost impossible to prevent the occurrence of a contamination of the exterior and a bacterial infection. This arrangement has also the technical disadvantage of necessitating a large installation space, inasmuch as during opening thereof the cover must be displaced in a horizontal direction.
These disadvantages are avoided through the arrangement constructed pursuant to European Patent 0 093 846. The latter describes an arrangement consisting of a rinsing chamber which, on one side thereof, includes an opening which is closable through a sliding door, and a rotating arrangement which serves for the retention of a hygienic vessel and which is pivotable about a horizontal pivoting axis. The steps for the emptying, cleaning and disinfection are program-controlled.
By means of this known arrangement, subsequent to the emptying of the vessel through operation of the rotating arrangement, through the intermediary of a rotary nozzle which is mounted on the ceiling of the rinsing chamber, there is cleansed the interior space of the rinsing chamber and the outer surfaces of the hygienic vessel which is inserted into the rotary arrangement and thereafter fixedly and exchangeably connected with the rotating arrangement by means of a rotary or swivel coupling; pressurized water being intensively and optimally injected or sprayed by means of nozzle which is located above the center of the hygienic vessel, and the cleaning water being discharged in the lower conical portion of the rinsing chamber. Effected thereafter as a directly following work step is the disinfection of the emptied and cleaned hygienic vessel through the application of steam, after which there is effected the opening for the door with a simultaneous pivoting of the mounting support within the rotating arrangement in a reverse pivoting direction for the withdrawal of the empty, cleaned and disinfected hygienic vessel.